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This crockpot split pea soup is loaded with vegetables, fiber, and protein. It is very healthy, creamy, and full of flavor! It’s way better than the canned stuff.
Featured with this recipe
- Crockpot Split Pea Soup Ingredients
- Method to Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Steps to Making Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
- Tips for Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Storing Crockpot Split Pea Soup Leftovers
- More Crockpot Soup Recipes
- How to Make Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Crockpot Split Pea Soup Recipe
Crockpot split pea soup is rich, warm, nourishing, and incredibly flavorful. It is the perfect soup to warm you up from the inside out on a chilly day. What I love most about making split pea soup in a crockpot is that you can just dump all the ingredients in and forget about it.
This slow cooker split pea soup has all your vegetables, meat, and beans to make a well-balanced meal! Make this crockpot split pea soup after a special occasion like Easter, Christmas, or Thanksgiving. When you have already made a ham. Leftover ham is the perfect way to use that meaty ham bone. The rich flavor from the ham bone will take this soup to the next level. It is a healthy and delicious dinner.
Crockpot Split Pea Soup Ingredients
This split pea soup is simple to make and is loaded with fresh ingredients!
- Hambone – Use a leftover ham bone if possible. Simply add the ham bone to the crockpot with the other ingredients and let it simmer away. It will add a depth of flavor. Remove before serving.
- Peas – Dried green split peas will cook in the crockpot. Find these in your local grocery store near the dried beans aisle. They are small sized and have a pretty bright green coloring.
- Chicken broth – This adds flavor but also gives the soup a warm liquid. You can also use chicken stock.
- Vegetables – Slice carrots, potatoes, celery, onions into slices and chunks. Try to make each type of veggie uniform to the others. This will help the cooking process to be more evenly distributed.
- Ham – Diced ham is cooked in the crockpot. The chunks of ham add texture and protein.
- Garlic – You always need a little garlic! It goes a long way and gives a savory flavor.
- Bay leaf – We love to add bay leaves for an extra boost of richness and flavor. Discard bay leaf before serving.
Method to Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
The crockpot is always a great way to cook soups! It gives the soup balance as well as cooking it all together and allowing the ingredients to blend together. Cook on high or low for this soup depending on the timeframe you have available.
- Add – If using a ham bone, add it to a large crockpot first. This will take up most of the room in the crockpot.
- Slow cook – Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or on high for about 5 hours.
- More meat – When the soup is done cooking, remove the ham bone cut off any good, meaty pieces, and add them straight back to the soup.
Steps to Making Instant Pot Split Pea Soup
If you need to speed up the process of making this soup, throw all the ingredients in a large Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. Make sure to add the liquids first so you don’t get a burn notice. Do a quick release, give it a quick stir, and you are ready to eat!
Tips for Making Crockpot Split Pea Soup
- Veggies – It is okay to substitute! I love all the different veggies in this soup. But you can add or subtract any veggies you like.
- Large batch – This soup makes a huge batch, so if space is an issue in your Crockpot, I suggest cutting the recipe in half.
- Vegan – To make a vegan version of this recipe, omit the ham and swap out the chicken broth for vegetable broth or water.
- Salty flavor – Don’t over-salt! Especially if you are using a ham bone, a lot of that salty flavor will come out in the soup. Wait to salt until the very end and always salt to taste.
- Bacon – Try it with bacon instead of ham or add it alongside the ham!
- Blender – If you prefer a smoother texture, you can use a blender or food processor to smooth it out after cooking. Be careful to do this in small batches because it’s hot! An immersion blender also works great. Puree the mixture until it is at your desired consistency.
“I’ve always had a hard time getting my kids to eat anything “green”, but they tried this & actually went back for seconds! Very rich & flavorful!”
-Rebecca
Frequently Asked Questions
For this recipe, no. They simmer long enough to become perfectly soft and creamy. I do like to give them a good rinse before adding them to the pot though. Just to rinse off any random debris.
I like to always make my split pea soup on the thicker side and add more broth at the end to thicken it if necessary. It is easier to thin out the soup rather than thicken it. However, if you need to thicken your soup after it has cooked, you can stir in some instant mashed potato flakes (or leftover mashed potatoes).
YES! This is the best split pea soup is full of vegetables, protein, and fiber. This soup is chock full of nutrients like potassium, folate, iron, and Vitamin K. It is also nice and creamy without adding any extra cream or milk. Crockpot split pea soup is also very filling because it is packed with so many nutrient-rich ingredients.
Storing Crockpot Split Pea Soup Leftovers
This split pea soup recipe makes a large batch and you are likely to have some delicious leftovers. Placing the leftovers into small portions is helpful or in large bags depending on who and when you will be serving the leftovers.
- Refrigerator – Store your leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- Freezing – This also freezes nicely so if you make a full batch and can’t eat it all within a few days, freeze it in individual freezer-safe containers. It’ll stay nice and fresh for up to two months.
- Reheating – Reheat slowly on the stove or in the microwave.
Read Next: The Best Soup Recipes
More Crockpot Soup Recipes
How to Make Crockpot Split Pea Soup
Crockpot Split Pea Soup
Equipment
- Crockpot
Ingredients
- 1 ham bone (optional)
- 1 package dried split peas about 2 ½ cups or 1 pound
- 9 cups chicken broth if you like it thick, use 8 cups
- 4 carrots coarsely chopped
- 3 medium potatoes diced small
- 3 celery stalks chopped
- 1 onion finely chopped
- 2-3 cups diced ham
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- If using a ham bone, add it to a LARGE Crockpot.
- Add remaining ingredients and cook on low for about 7 to 8 hours or on high for about 5 hours. Discard bay leaf before serving.
- Serve with sliced French bread.
I made this for a SOUP-ER-BOWL spread and it was well received. I used 8 cups of broth and for ham I bought a ham steak that I chopped up. I also bought some cubed ham but I left it out so as to not overwhelm with the ham. I think it would have been fine. For my taste, a little more salt would be fine. The amount of pepper was just right.
All ingredients in pot, can’t wait. I make this without potatoes, but I’m thinking now the potatoes are used for thickening. Oh well, next time if it’s too thin.
Made it last night. So freakin’ good! And she’s right. Don’t over salt. I’m a salt lover and just used the 1 teaspoon she suggests. No additional salt needed at the end. It was amazing and I’m going to continue to enjoy it over the next few days! I grew up on split peas (enjoyed differently) because we Cubans love our chicharos, but I’ve also always loved me a good split pea soup with ham! This was my first time making it and I’m so glad I did!
Currently making it, however, quickly after putting al ingredients in I realized I could barely fit 6 cups of broth in it without it overflowing. My mom
Made the same recipe last week and she didn’t have that problem. I realized why- she has a 6 quart crock pot, and mine is 3 quarts. I wish you Had specified the size of ‘large’ because I would have adjusted the serving. For anyone making this- make sure your crock pot is 6 quart or larger.
I always make this after making a ham. I shove the ham bone in and after the time is up the meat literally falls off the bone. Then I take out the ham and carrots and shove an emulsion blender into the crockpot to blend everything else together, re-add the meat and carrots for texture. Because I use the ham bone, I don’t use additional salt. Delicious!
love this soup
Made this today per the recipe exactly less one cup of Broth if preferred thicker. Got two slices of pit smoked ham from butcher I cubed and it turned out perfect. Very satisfied and will be cooking it often.
This is my favorite soup to make in the slow cooker! Pure comfort food!
I’ve always had a hard time getting my kids to eat anything “green”, but they tried this & actually went back for seconds! Very rich & flavorful!
It’s still in the 90’s here, but I am so excited for soup! I’ve made this in the past & it was so tasty!!
Yummy soup! I would make this again. Thx for recipe. Kathryn
My ham is salty already….with the chicken broth is it going to make the soup too salty?
You could use half water half chicken broth if you are worried about the salt. You can always add more later if it needs more flavor!
I love this recipe. It has never failed me. Anyone I’ve served.it to requests the recipe.
I do have a question. What is the serving size the nutritional facts are based on?
Yay! We are so glad you love it as much as we do! It serves about 10 people, so 1/10th of the soup!
Love this recipe!! How would you make it in the Instant Pot? 🙂
We haven’t tried it in the Instant Pot! But let us know how it turns out if you do try it!
I had same problem as person who commented earlier……my peas never softened. After nine hours on low and then four on high, they never softened.
I had this same problem, once, realized it was because the peas were old. I have a problem with stockpiling food. 🤷♂️ We will never starve 😂
Delicious and very easy!
First-time visitor here at the North Pole (MN) I have been searching for a split-pea/ham soup recipe for a long time. I found your site recently, read all the reviews and have everything all ready to go! Since becoming a widow 6 years ago, and homebound, I have had to retrain my brain from big family style to cooking for one. The biggest factor is that I am originally from Boston/NY and Italian!! I stick out like a sore thumb here in the Midwest. I love to cook, especially anything fresh!!! So now, I share my “Sunday Dinners” with friends. The temps are in the ’40s this weekend (May 19?) so what better time to make this soup! I will keep you posted!
Yes please let us know! Thank you for sharing your story with us. That is so nice that you are able to get together with friends and cook a big meal! We hope this soup is a hit with them!
Excellent … made with all homemade chicken broth. Tried to post a picture but could not. Recipe is a keeper.
We would love to see a pic. Feel free to post it on Instagram and tag us!
Excellent … made with all homemade chicken broth. Tried to post a picture but could not. Recipe is a keeper.
We would love to see a picture! Feel free to post it on Instagram and tag us, that way we will for sure see it!
Have this in my crock pot now, it smells good but it’s soupy and I only added 8 cups of broth how can I get to thick? Thanks
It should thicken up by the very end. It looks soupy at first but when you stir it up it will thicken a lot. Hope this helps!
Wow, just made this soup yesterday. It is absolutely delicious. I love split pea soup and have never tried making it myself, but now that I have, I don’t want to ever go back to canned! I did not add the extra salt because my broth already had enough. Also, if you are getting your ham from the deli, asked for it thick sliced and 1 lb. should be just the right amount! Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Becky- thank you so much! I am so glad you liked this recipe so much. I honestly haven’t bought the canned stuff in years because you really can’t beat how easy this is to make! Thanks for such a nice comment 😀
Hi I’m having a really hard time getting the peas to soften. 15 hours of slow cooking over two days now.
Help- my mom said maybe I didn’t buy them fresh enough? How am I to know that? I got out of bulk at Whole Foods
That is VERY strange. I have never had them take longer than a couple hours to soften. I would let Whole Foods know that they weren’t good. Hope this helps!
I absolutely love this recipe of split pea soup. Has anyone ever made it in an instant pot or pressure cooker? I am new to the whole instant pot thing and was hoping to try that today to cook it quicker. Does anyone of suggestions on how to do this recipe in an instant pot? Thank you.
I love this suggestion! I will have to experiment with it in the instant pot because I bet it will be great! Let me know how it turns out for you if you try it.
I did try it in the instant pot and it was even better and made it super creamy. I followed your recipe for ingredients, except instead of the 1 tsp salt, I used seasoned salt. However, I followed the cooking instructions from a recipe that Nana used on https://www.bowlofdelicious.com/instant-pot-split-pea-soup-ham-bone/. So instead of 4 hours it took 30 minutes.
This recipe sounds so easy to make ..Can I use shredded carrots..?? thank you !!
Yes, you can use shredded carrots 🙂
Just turned on the crockpot. Can’t wait for 8 hours to go by. Looks great and already smells wonderful. I used a couple of ham hocks so will need to separate the meat from the bone at the end of the 8 hours. Also added just a small amount of already cooked and chopped ham out of a package from the store. Love Split Pea Soup and am anxiously awaiting a bowl! Thank you for the great crock recipe ~ makes it even easier!
Thanks Linda! I’m excited to hear how you liked it.
Thank you Barbi! I’m glad you like the recipe. I like your adaptations to the recipe. Adding marjoram and thyme sounds delicious!
Great soup as per recipe , everyone loved it , thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Rick! I’m so glad you liked it!
I’ve used this recipe several times and I love it! The only changes I make are I smoke a ham a day or two before and put the ham bone in to let it impart is amazing flavor and I wait until the very end to add the diced ham. That way the ham doesn’t lose all of it’s flavor to the soup. If there is leftovers, they’re fiercely fought over.
Very good. Will make again!
I’m trying the pea soup but I don’t have bay leaf can I use oregano
You can definitely try using oregano instead. We haven’t done it that way before but it will probably be ok
OOOPS, meant the PEA basil, ha ha!
Hello Erica!
I absolutely LOVED LOVED LOVED this recipe. Sooooo easy and soooooooo yummy (always better the second day too!). I really appreciate your responses to commenters, I used a 6 qt crockpot, and even though I had to leave out some of the diced vegetables and only use one ham hock, I was prepared for my pot to be very full. Going to try the potato basil soup next.
Thanks again!
So glad you liked it! <3
so far things smell great and look great! On high for about 3 hours.. still doesn’t quite look like the consistency.. how long until it starts looking like yours? 🙂
I am hoping that if I give it a few more hours it will soften up..
Thanks!
It will look like ours once you start stirring it all together when it is finished 🙂
Does split peas soup freeze well? I love bringing previously frozen soups to work for lunch. I’m going to make your soup with the ham bone in it.
Thanks,
Lisa
Ehh, I don’t know if it is something I would freeze, but I don’t freeze much. You can definitely try it and let us know how it turns out!
I have made this soup many times and always freeze the leftovers with no problems.
I made this soup today and it was delicious. The only problem is that on low it didn’t cook all the way, I had to cook it down on the stove top for 30 min. I would put the crock pot on high to get it to cook thoroughly. Other than that it was the best split pea I have made and really easy too.
I know different brands of slow cookers can vary in temperatures– sorry it didn’t work on low for you! Glad you were able to simmer it down and it worked for you. 🙂 Glad you liked it!
Did you soak the peas first?
Nope! You can definitely try it that way though!
No
Have this in my crock right now – can’t wait to have it for dinner. My mother always made this for me when I was a wee lil kid, has always been my fave soup. Your crock pot recipe inspired me to make it on this crisp autumn day. Thanks for sharing !!
Excellent recipe–I cut it
In half but otherwise followed it-and used cubes ham –my husband loves it–he usually adds hot sauce to everything but he said this recipe was perfect as is !!!
And it looked like the picture !!!!
have you always made this with cut up ham? have you ever tried it with a ham hock? i’m planning to make this tomorrow and thought i might use a ham hock if i can find one but don’t know if it’ll make any difference.
Ham hock would be great, let us know how is turns out!
Thanks for sharing your great recipe, you saved me, we had all the stuff but I hadn’t made it in years, could not remember how I used to do it. I have a great huge crock pot so this looked easier than I had remembered. Its the recipe I will be using from now on, for sure ! We will do it in the dutch oven over the fire when we are camping as well, Thanks again , cook on and keep sharing
You can replace the ham with corned beef but we like the ham particularly when we get a good one
I’m so glad you found the recipe. It’s a great idea to replace the ham with corned beef – that would be fun for St. Patrick’s Day. Thank you!
I was just wondering if chicken would pair well with this recipe? I always have frozen chicken breast on hand.
I haven’t put chicken in this soup before, but I think it would be fine!
I made this recipe this weekend, it was incredible! Thank you!
So glad that you liked it! Thanks for your nice comment!
Did you wash the peas first? I didn’t and now I’m scared I ruined it! I wasn’t supposed to sauté the onions and celerty first, right? Thanks!
I wouldn’t worry too much about not washing them– I have forgotten sometimes too! Usually I like to give them a little rinse, but that’s just me. It shouldn’t ruin your soup though!
Just made this today was super great! I did swap out the chicken broth fro vegetable broth and nixed the ham for a vegan option…turned out fantastic! Thanks so much!
We’re so glad you liked it! Thank you for the vegan tips!
I don’t eat red meat (including pork), so I cut up meat from a smoked turkey leg to replace the ham. It smells great already, but won’t be ready for several hours. My tummy is grumbling!
I recently made this and loved it! However, I recently made a new lifestyle change because of my health. I’m going to attempt my next batch using cauliflower florets instead of potatoes. Do you think it’ll be too drastic of a change?
I think cauliflower is generally a great substitution for potatoes!
i’m wondering how this recipe will turn out if I don’t use any meat. Any thoughts? We’re not vegetarian but we don’t eat pork and I don’t know of another meet that would work… Any advice would be great! Thank you!
Hi Amanda.. you could probably leave it out, the flavor just won’t be the same. You could try it with another kind of meat.. but it might taste odd :/ sorry not much help here!
I often replace pork in soups with beef smoked sausage.
That is a great substitution for this recipe. The beef smoked sausage will give the soup a delicious flavor. Thanks for the tip!
I don’t eat pork either, so I always replace ham with meat from a smoked turkey leg or thigh.
For a vegetarian version, try adding in some chopped sweet potato (small dice). I don’t know why but when I have used this method with other soups — such as lentil soup — something about the sweet potato adds just a hint of pork/meat flavor. The sweet potato taste isn’t there but bumps up the flavor of the dish overall.
We loved this recipe! I left out the bay leaf (didn’t have any in the house) and omitted the kosher salt (to lower the sodium). It tasted great!! Thanks!
So glad you liked it! Thanks for the comment!
Best split pea soup ever! My kids loved an vs and it made plenty for leftovers! Thank you
So glad you liked it!
I’ve never made split pea soup before but think I’m going to try this recipe this week. My question is, it says to make sure your crock pot is big enough for recipe. I have a 5 qt, will that be big enough or should I just half it?
Thanks!
It makes quite a bit, I think a 5qt should probably be ok.. If you are worried about it you could definitely half it. Sorry that was like no help at all haha, I usually use my 6 qt and it fits pretty well.
This sounds really good. The size of the slow cooker should be added to the comment in the recipe…
I have a 5-quart, however, the ham bone did not fit in the pot … I ended up purchasing a larger pot from Amazon and it came in two days — held the bone in the fridge and it all worked out ok … I knew it would not fit in the small pot, but it’s nice to have that small one …
I love having 2 separate pots– sometimes the big one is too big for what I am doing. Sometimes you just need both sizes!
This is a wonderfully easy soup that taste great…used a meaty ham bone yummy!!!;
I’ve never made split pea soup before, but it is one of my favorite soups so I’m going to try it this week. Probably a silly question, but I don’t normally buy ham and I’m not sure what type of ham I should use? Do I purchase from the deli, meat counter or elsewhere in the store? Thank you!
You can get it from the deli. I just ask them to cut it thicker because I’m going to dice it for a recipe. A Virginia or Black Forest Ham would work great for this recipe. Thanks for asking!
Have the soup in the pot with leftover ham and ham bone from Thanksgiving dinner. The smell is awesome. Even our canine kids are sniffing the air with “smiles” on their faces. It’s going to be delicious, I know. Thank you for this EZ recipe. You’ve made our day (and probably tomorrow, too).
Thank you for your comment! I hope it turned out great!
Made this tonight according to the recipe…but it looked nothing like the picture you posted! Flavor was okay… but it took a spin the blender before it looked even remotely like your pick. Won’t be making this again! Next time it will come from a can! Thanks anyway!
Sorry it didn’t turn out well for you! I don’t know what could have happened :S
The last Two hours of cooking is critical and temp should be in the 150-160 range….
It was delicious
Only not green but brownish
In color
Perhaps you used lentils instead of split peas if it was brown instead of green?!
Looks delicious and easy! Does this recipe require blending? Or does it look like the picture after cooking in the crockpot?
If you cook it down, you shouldn’t need a blender. If you want it to be a more pureed consistency you are surely welcome to use and immersion blender to get that consistency!
Does the ham have to be fully cooked! I want to cook it on low for 7-8 hours and its country ham so I don’t want it to be too salty. What is your opinion?
Rachel, I have always made it with the ham fully cooked and it has always tasted fine. Thanks for asking!
Just made it in the crock pot with a ham bone and all its juices. Hoping it turns out great, have people over for dinner tonight.
Looks delicious! I love Split Pea Soup 🙂 It’s one of those things that you have to love to appreciate a photo of it…and this photo just makes me hungry (I’m also 6mths pregnant and ALWAYS hungry though, lol). I normally make Split Pea Soup on the stove, but with baby coming I’m going to be needing to use my crock pot more..so I’ll have to try this one soon!
Delicious soup! My family loved it. Thanks for the recipe.
Yup, I halved the recipe and it is a good thing I did, it just barely fit into my crockpot! It is a very easy and nice recipe. I am writing about it on my blog today. Thanks for the inspiration!
One thing I've noticed with other recipes (I've yet to try this one, but it looks great!) is that it can be good to leave off adding the ham until you're nearly ready to serve, because it can make the entire soup very salty otherwise!
I just made this for dinner and served it in some bread bowls, AMAZING pea soup recipe!!! I love it. Thanks for sharing all these great recipes.